Humanity and Nature. Feelings from COP21.

It has only been two days at COP, but certainly already a life experience. It is incredible how much can you learn and how much can you feel in such a short time. In such a visual event as the World Climate Conference it might be difficult to look inside. But in this blog post, I want to walk us through the rush I live in my feelings, which it can be as much or even more than the rush we witness on the conference halls.

Yesterday it hit me, I did not need more than 10 hours at the conference to find out the (in)human side of COP21. I clearly realized that there are two important profiles dominating the conference: those who come here for their job, and those who come here for their life.

The attitudes are very different, there is some people coming here just as a mere part of their job, diplomacy and law as their backgrounds. For what I have witnessed, some of the parties representatives show a non compassion profile, it is difficult to guess what are they feeling, if they even do.

On the other hand, it is extremely eye-catching to see all the people that are here for their life. It is easy to spot them, you see it on their eyes, you can really grasp their feel. Just passing by, or just with an instant look you can see their feelings of anger, disagreement, and urgency. They are here to protect their freedom, culture, education, shelter, food, water, health… and when I put myself on their shoes, it gives me goosebumps just to think that there is people still fighting for the basic right of existence of their communities.

The sense of humanity in the air is rare, there are some black spots where I can see no feelings on the expression of some party delegates. But right on the same room, on the same corridors, I have seen small flowers growing on a parking lot. Seeing these folks standing for their basics needs, it brings up so many feelings, it brings up the very emotion of human existence, and this is a pleasure to witness despite the circumstances.

Personally, I have tried to connect with the world and feel a part of humanity. One may think that being surrounded by 150 Heads of State and by people from every country in the world is a great opportunity to feel in the middle of the world. But the reality is that in the overall rush in the hectic conference halls it is not at all easy to stop for a second and ask yourself “What does this experience make you feel?”.

And this morning I realized. Again, it was clear: COP21 is so artificial, it is a synthetic world, despite their efforts with the plastic animals, there is no connection to Nature in LeBourget. Ironically, I have only had that magical feeling of belonging to the Earth when I have gone for a short walk on the outside of the venue. I was walking on the soil, full of grass, there was wind blowing on my face and some birds flying together on the sky. On that exact moment I felt part of humanity, I felt like I was in connection with the Earth, because we should not forget that a large part of being human means being in harmony with our environment.

As I was walking inside the venue, going through security, leaving the soil to step on pavement, the fresh breeze was fading out into a temperature conditioned environment. This transition broke all my sync with Nature, as it seems the negotiations are breaking their link to Earth.

Yesterday, many of the Heads of Statement statements reflected on pledges, ambition, deals… narrowing down our view. Again, I missed the connection to Nature, the real meaning of these negotiations, in this dark windowless venue. But there is always place for hope and inspiration. This time, Ecuador was the flower blooming on the COP21. The speech held by its president reframed the whole concept of the new Humanity-Nature relationship that we should establish if we truly want to solve the climate crisis.